Ahmedabad: Para athlete Pavan Kumar Kasse, a national-level medallist from Andhra Pradesh’s Eluru district, is preparing to direct a film proposed for screening at the Superfest Disability Film Festival in 2028. The 16-year-old, who trains at the Sports Authority of India’s National Centre of Excellence in Gandhinagar, said his film proposal was approved earlier this month by the festival’s governing body. Superfest is organised by Paul K Longmore Institute on Disability at San Francisco State University and the San Francisco Disability Cultural Center.“Every person with a disability has talent and potential and a story worth sharing. With this belief, I developed a film concept that encourages society to treat persons with disabilities with respect and dignity. The concept was approved by Superfest Disability Film Festival. I want to become a film director and create meaningful films that inspire people,” Pavan said.He is now looking for financial backing for the project and has begun work on the screenplay. “At present, I am trying to get financial support for my film, and I have started working on the film’s screenplay. My message is to empower people with disabilities and show that they can be included in the mainstream and treated as equals,” he said. Pavan’s right hand was amputated after he suffered an electric shock at the age of four. He also underwent surgery for injuries to his skull.He said his interest in sport was first identified by his physical education teacher when he was in Class VI. “Mallayya sir recognised my athletic ability and advised me to take up sports. After completing Class X in 2024, I started para sports in earnest. I participated in the state meet for the first time in August 2025 in Vizag, where I won three gold medals. I also won two silver medals in a national event,” he said.Pavan said he developed an interest in cinema after choosing filmmaking as a subject in Class X. “I was fascinated with the art form. I’ve undertaken in-depth research about Dadasaheb Phalke, Satyajit Ray and Malayalam cinema, which is my favourite,” he said.Pavan said he cleared Common Law Admission Test in 2026 with an all-India rank of 367 among 88,657 candidates. “For about three-and-a-half months, I studied regularly for 15 hours a day to clear CLAT. I am now pursuing BA-LLB from NLSIU, Bengaluru and BA Public Policy from CA Reddy College in Eluru concurrently. Both the courses include filmmaking as a subject,” he said.
